Jackson set for challenge at Heartland Hoopfest

The second Heartland Hoopfest boys basketball tournament will take place Dec. 10 at the Perry Park Centre with Jackson getting a look at one of the country's top-rated freshmen.

Jackson will face Lafayette at 7 p.m. in what will be the second-to-last game on the eight-game card. Lafayette is led by 6-foot-8 freshman Tyler Griffey, who is ranked in the top 10 nationally in his class in some publications. Griffey averaged 21 points a game in Lafayette's first three games of the season.

Jackson coach Darrin Scott said it should be fun to play against such a highly rated player, but more importantly playing a strong team like Lafayette, from suburban St. Louis, should help the Indians down the road.

"That was our goal, to play some teams that get us better competition early," he said.

Early games include Perryville against Ste. Genevieve, St. Vincent playing Oak Ridge, Bell City taking on Vianney, Red Bud playing Charleston, Saxony Lutheran meeting St. Pius and Notre Dame against DuQuoin.

The feature game will pit St. Louis powerhouse Vashon, last year's Class 5 runner-up, against Arlington High School of Indianapolis, Ind. Arlington and Vashon were both nationally ranked last season.

Lady Devils Invitational

Delta's girls basketball team will enter the 29th annual Lady Devils Invitational Tournament as the top seed when action begins Monday.

The Bobcats will play No. 8 East Prairie in one of three first-round games Monday. Fourth-seeded Oran will play No. 5 Scott County Central, and No. 2 Kelly will play No. 7 Scott City on Monday. Chaffee, the No. 6 seed, will play No. 3 Sikeston in the other first-round game on Wednesday.

The finals of the tournament are set for 4:30 p.m. Dec. 10.

Central heads to Northwest

For the second straight year, Central's boys basketball team will play in the Mobil On the Run Classic hosted by Northwest High School.

The Tigers will begin play on Monday against Eureka. Central will play again Friday against either Marquette or Rolla.

Poplar Bluff, Parkway Central, Timberland and Northwest also are in the tournament.

Richardet named MVP

St. Vincent senior Waylon Richardet was named the MVP of the Mississippi Area Football Conference Blue Division.

Richardet led the team with six sacks and finished with 81 tackles from his linebacker position. On offense, Richardet led the Indians with 793 yards rushing, added 231 receiving yards and finished with 16 touchdowns.

Besides Richardet, other first-team all-conference players from division runner-up St. Vincent included senior offensive lineman Ben Buchheit, junior offensive lineman Chris Fischer, junior receiver Eric Clemens, junior linebacker Greg Finger and kicker Jonathan Buehler. Richardet made first-team at running back, defensive lineman and punter. Buchheit also was first-team on the defensive line.

Tyler Bauwens was Perryville's lone first-team all-MAFC White player. Bauwens made first-team on both the offensive and defensive lines.

College notes

• Notre Dame graduate Ashley Millham leads Central Missouri State University in assists as the Jennies basketball team is off to a 4-1 start and is ranked No. 23 in NCAA Division II. Millham has 23 assists in five games, and is averaging 7.2 points a game.

* Two area graduates are leading the way for the 3-2 Quincy University women's basketball team. Notre Dame graduate Deanna McCormick leads the team in scoring at 15.8 points a game. Central graduate Alex Wieser is second on the team at 13.6 points a game.